Technology lets the New York Times create products powered by its journalism. "While we need to continue to focus on the news, we need to reposition how we think about what we're doing for our customer, because there are other needs that we can serve," said David Perpich, svp of product for the New York Times. So instead of thinking of itself as simply a news destination supported by advertising, the Times has begun to shift to a new mindset of being an ecosystem that serve other reader interests, like cooking and television.

Melissa Bell, publisher of Vox, spoke about the challenges of negotiating a lightning-fast news cycle at the Digiday Publishing Summit. In order to stay ahead of the game, Vox established platform-specific centralized studios that work across the media brands to learn new platforms and what works for each one. And it's found success in looking at what other publishers are doing: "We ruthlessly steal from other people," said Bell.

For millennial-focused publisher Mic, platforms are the future. The media company’s chief strategy officer Cory Haik took the stage at the Digiday Publishing Summit in Key Biscayne to share Mic’s multi-platform approach to storytelling. Instagram has been a particular area of growth because of its strong micro-communities of social justice-minded individuals and their followings.